Wiccan House Calls
by Patricia de Lioncourt
Summary: Doctor Who S4. Post Buffy S7. Willow had been called a lot recently for some strange things… but this had to be the strangest of them all.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Doctor Who. All the characters belong to their respective owners, making no money here.

**A/N: **This is my first foray into the Doctor Who fandom (of which I watched Series 1-7 in like two months—starting with The Ninth Doctor, of course). Also, this story won't make a lick of sense, I don't think, unless you know what happens to Donna Noble at the end of S4, just a warning. Hope you all enjoy, and there'll be more Whovian things to come! August Fic-a-Day 3, FFA Pairing Willow/Doctor Donna.

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><p><strong>Something Like Never Before<strong>

Wilfred Mott and Sylvia Noble led Willow to the top of the stairs, stopping just outside of a rather ordinary bedroom door. Both turned to the witch they had heard of—not as a witch, but as of a curer of strange aliments—and exchanged a glance between one another before Sylvia finally spoke.

"My Donna's case is… especially strange," she began in a hushed voice.

Willow nodded. "Wouldn't be here if it wasn't."

She was trying to to play it lightly, but there was not a sign of humor on either of their faces. Instead, Wilfred, who had introduced himself as Donna's—the woman Willow had been called her for—grandfather, shook his head.

"She's serious. You've probably never seen anything like this before."

Willow crossed her arms, only a little ashamed that she had rather a large surge of cockiness run through her. She stepped past the two blocking the bedroom, saying, "I'll be the judge of that."

She came to a stop in the bedroom. It was an ordinary room, nothing wrong with it at all. Except its occupant—a woman with hair as red as Willow's own—seemed to be in the deepest sleep of her life. Willow dared a little closer, lightly giving the woman a shake. She didn't so much as twitch. She whirled back to the two who had followed her in.

"You've sedated her?" Willow asked, outraged.

Again, Wilfred and Sylvia exchanged a glance.

"She'd have never agreed to see you otherwise," Donna's mother explained.

"Why not? Doesn't she want to get better?"

"You see, that's just it. She doesn't know she's sick," Wilfred sighed.

Willow glanced between the sleeping Donna and her relatives. Now, her brow furrowed.

"So, how do _you_ know she's sick?"

"It's… a special circumstance. You see, this friend of hers was… indirectly responsible for her illness. Wait, no. That's not quite right either. But, anyway, if we mention him in front of her, he said the illness would…"

Sylvia stopped there, wringing her hands as she searched for the words. Wilfred kindly finished for her.

"Melt her brain. Or something like that."

Willow's eyes widened. When she managed them back down to normal size, she nodded once.

"Alright then. Out. I'll do my best to fix her, but I need it to be just me and her, okay?"

"But—" Sylvia began, but Wilfred already had her by the arm.

"You heard the girl, out," he said, dragging her out the door.

"But!"

Wilfred all but pushed her over the threshold, and, wishing Willow luck, shut the door behind him. Willow sighed, glancing back down at the sedated Donna. Shaking her head, she began to set up her spell.

"I've never mind-walked in a sedated mind. This is gonna be fun," she murmured to herself as she took a seat at the edge of the bed.

She reached over, forcing open Donna's eyelids as gently as possible, and stared deep into them. In the next moment, Willow was no longer in the bedroom. Instead, she was just outside of Donna's house, watching as she exited it. She was chattering away on her cell phone, making her way to the car. Willow couldn't make out what she was saying, but there was something about it that didn't feel… real? Relavant?

"I've gotta go deeper," Willow muttered.

She opened her eyes, and this time, she was not on the street. At least, she wasn't in any street that she recognized. Instead, she appeared to be inside a large, dome-shaped room. There was a central console at the top of a small, metal platform that ran all around it. The walls were metal, at least they looked that way, and that had these weird, ball-shaped things on them.

"What in the hell?"

"Oi!" came a sharp voice from atop the platform. "Who're you?"

Willow glanced up and saw Donna standing there, staring straight at the witch. Willow looked behind, just making sure before she turned back and placed a single finger to her chest.

"You can see me?"

Donna placed her arms akimbo. "Why wouldn't I see you? I see quite a bit now, you know."

Her own words gave her a bit of a pause, and she lifted on hand to rest against her head. Shaking it, she added, "Or, at least, I did. I'm supposed to, now that I'm different. The Doctor Donna."

Well, that confused Willow. Wilfred had been right. This was nothing like Willow had ever seen before. Slowly, gingerly, the witch ascended the staircase.

"Can I?" she asked as she came within arms' reach of Donna.

Donna looked up, blinking at her. "Why? What're you gonna do? He couldn't fix it. So you surely can't."

"I can try. Just let me see what's wrong," Willow said, and Donna let her arms fall by her sides. As she put her hands to Donna's temples, she said, "Keep talking to me. Who's he? Who did you mean? Did he do this to you?"

"No. Yes, but no. It wasn't intentional. He could've never predicted what would've happened. The Doctor Donna. And he's The Doctor."

"Is that why you keep saying that?" Willow asked as she tried digging her way into this Donna's head. "You keep saying 'The Doctor Donna.' Is he here?"

"No, stupid," Donna spat. "That's who I am. I'm The Doctor Donna."

Willow put all of her strength into it now. "I don't understand."

"Of course you wouldn't. Not many would. We became… fused. A regeneration issue, I guess would be the easiest way to put it to you. I became fused with part of him, and his clone—whatever—became fused with part of me. I became The Doctor Donna. But, oh! No! That's why I'm in the Tardis! Why I can't get out!"

At that, The Doctor Donna—as she insisted she was called—shoved Willow's hands off of her. She shook her head, backing up until she collided with the console.

"You can't," she said.

Willow shook her head. "No, I can help. You've got locked memories. _This_ is what this is, what _you_ are. I can unlock them."

"No. She'll die. I'll become her again, and she'll become me, and _we'll_ die."

"I can save you."

"No, you can't."

Willow groaned. "I'm a witch. Yes, I can."

"And I'm part Time Lord. No, you can't."

"What?"

The Doctor Donna waved Willow nearer. "Here, dummy. I'll show you."

She grabbed Willow's arms by the wrists, placing her hands on her temples. Suddenly, there was no resistance. Willow gasped as everything was shown to her, all the memories that The Doctor Donna was keeping hidden from the sleeping Donna. And she saw him, The Doctor. She saw what happened… and what Donna had done. What she had sacrificed. With another gasp, Willow fell back, landing hard on the grated platform. She gazed up at The Doctor Donna with wide eyes.

"An alien time-traveler? That's who The Doctor is? And… and he was right."

The Doctor Donna nodded. "You need to go now. Let me be. Just wake her."

Willow got to her feet, a frown firmly in place. "But what do I tell them, your mom and your grandfather?"

"Tell them what they already know."

And with that, Willow was back in Donna's bedroom, and Donna was waking up. Willow scurried off the bed—no need to explain that—as Donna's eyes fluttered open… and instantly narrowed.

"Oi, who're you? What are you doing in my bedroom?"

"Déjà vu much," Willow muttered before adding, "Nothing. I was just checking in on you. Your mom and grandfather were worried. Nothing wrong though. Nice, clean bill of health."

Donna propped herself up on her elbows. "I should think so. Now get out."

Willow didn't need to be told twice. She left the room, almost running right into Wilfred and Sylvia as she did. She pulled the door shut behind her, and Wilfred looked almost ready to burst.

"Well, did it work?"

Willow pursed her lips. Shaking her head, she said, "No. I'm sorry. But… The Doctor was right. She can't be fixed. It's a part of her… a part that has to stay hidden. I'm really sorry."

Willow moved past them, one foot on the stairs when Sylvia scoffed.

"It's not fair! She did all that she did, and now she can't even _remember_ it?"

"You're right," Willow agreed. "It's not fair. But it's for the best. Which would you rather have, a hero… or your daughter?"

When Sylvia didn't answer, Willow continued her descent on the stairs. When she was halfway down, she heard Wilfred say, "Thanks for trying, anyway. Knew it was a long shot."

The witch turned and smiled. "Don't mention it. Really."

She kept going until she was out on the street. She paused there, sighing. An alien time-traveler. Buffy and the Scoobies weren't going to believe this. They'd dealt with a lot of weird stuff over their time, but not aliens. Well… except that one demon… Willow smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be such a stretch for her friends to believe after all.


End file.
